POLTERGEIST (1982) BREAKDOWN! Every Detail You Missed!

You son of a [ __ ] YOU MOVED THE. CEMETERY, BUT YOU LEFT THE BODIES, DIDN'T YOU? YOU ONLY moved the. headstone. >> Good question. What is happening in. Poltergeist? Well, here are over 100. details to break it all down. Welcome. back to New Rockstars. I'm Eric Boss, and this is a breakdown of 1982's. Poltergeist. It's spooky season here at. New Rockstars, and we are looking back. at classic horror and creepy titles for. our weekend watch series. This. Poltergeist has always been on my Mount.

Rushmore of classic movies to revisit. ever since I started analyzing movies on. YouTube. It is the perfect blend of. Amblin era supernatural horror and. family drama. A movie that I used to. watch every year, but this was actually. the first year I've watched the movie. since becoming a father. And damn, I've. never been more afraid of my own house. and my own blond-haired child around a. screen. So, here I'm going to do. something I've wanted to do for years. breakdown Poltergeist scene by scene for. details you missed, completely new. Easter eggs you never spotted, and. really the deeper meaning that still. rings true with us today. 1982's.

Poltergeist opens with the national. anthem and extreme close-ups of the US. Marine Corps Memorial, aka the Euima. Memorial, dark shadows, and the pixels. of a TV screen. For audiences in 1982, and anyone now who can remember, this. was a sort of signoff broadcast that TV. networks used to air at the end of the. night to be followed by several hours of. static until around 6:00 a.m. Yep. You'd. have something like, "It's 11:00. Do you. know where your children are?" And then. around midnight, the star spangled. banner over some patriotic images and. then static nothingness. You may. remember in Pixar's Toy Story 2, toy.

collector Al dozes off to a recording of. a rerun of Woody's Roundup that was. played late into the night and then went. into a similar broadcast that went into. static. As a movie about toys that come. to life at night, it was filled with. Easter eggs to the films of this era. Actually, the Pixar80s Ambulant ties are. pretty strong. They would bring back the. patriarch of this movie, Craig T. Nelson. to voice Bob Par, Mr. Incredible in. those films. Networks would phase out. these types of signoffs in the mid80s. when 24-hour programming with late night. infomercials and reruns and other shows. would play instead. For my generation,

the even more terrifying equivalent of. this would be dozing off in front of the. TV and then waking up at 2 a.m. to this. >> Imagine owning the world's greatest love. songs. >> But for audiences at the time, opening. Poltergeist this way wasn't just a. patriotic message. It was a kind of. foreboating spooky trigger that the. horrors of this film will creep into our. safe households during these chaotic. static twilight windows that everyone. has in our living rooms. These souls of. the past will always appear through this. glowing window. But at least in the case. of the Marines and Euima, America didn't.

dishonor their memorials the way those. buried at Questa Verde were dishonored. Truly, this whole film is a reckoning on. the way suburban America so willingly. paved over those who died to make our. fortunes and our comforts possible. As. the family dad, Steve Freeline, dozes. off, the family's golden retriever, Ebuzz, goes in for a snack and begins. his journey from room to room looking. for some snacks. Ebuzz was named after. Ebuzz Miller, a recurring character. played by Dan Akroyd on Saturday Night. Live in the 70s and really starting a. horror movie off with a very. well-trained dog, was something summer. 1982 movie goers also were able to see.

in John Carpenters The Thing, which, crazy to think, came out the same month. as Poltergeist and ET. Poltergeist. premiered on June 4th, 1982. ET on June. 11th, 1982, and The Thing on June 25th, 1982. You could see all three of those. classics in a movie theater at the same. time, in the same day if you wanted. This movie's release alongside ET, the. extraterrestrial, is part of the lore of. the film. Poltergeist was directed by. Toby Hooper, director of the 1974 Texas. Chainsaw Massacre, but the film is. widely believed to have been at least. co-directed by Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg at the time was under contract. with Universal to direct ET, while. Poltergeist was a project that he was. producing at MGM with co-writers Michael. Grace and Mark Victor. But Spielberg was. prohibited from directing two movies at. the same time. Though many who worked on. Poltergeist claimed that Spielberg was. often on set along with Toby Hooper, directing actors and approving prop. designs. Co-producer Frank Marshall. claimed Stephen Spielberg was the. creative force of the movie and said. that Steven Spielberg designed every. storyboard, something that Toby Hooper. refuted. In May 1982, Steven Spielberg. told the LA Times, quote, "Toby isn't a.

take charge kind of guy. If a question. was asked and an answer wasn't. immediately forthcoming, I'd jump in and. say what we could do." Toby would nod. agreement, and that became the process. of collaboration. The DGA investigated. whether Hooper's credit was being. challenged by Spielberg's statements. there, resulting in MGM being forced to. pay Hooper a $15,000 fine because MGM. had given Spielberg a bigger credit than. Hooper in trailers. And to make peace. with Hooper, on the week of the release, Stephen Spielberg ran an open letter in. the Hollywood Reporter praising and. crediting Hooper. In nearly all the. interviews since, particularly in the.

30-year retrospective in 2012, cast. members all recall Toby Hooper doing. most of the directing. I find it. interesting from my research that the. actors seem to recall Toby Hooper. directing, while certain crew people. recall Steven Spielberg being the final. authority for their approvals. But I. just think it speaks to the unusual. creative collaboration that made this. film great. You had the great horror. filmmaker behind Texas Chainsaw getting. the authentic desperate terror from the. cast, while you had the wizard of visual. spectacle establishing the look and feel. of the frights in this movie and coming. up with the things that would most gross.

out and rattle these characters. Ebuzz. goes up the iconic S-shaped staircase of. this film. The exteriors of this film. were shot on Roxbury Street in Seami. Valley, California, but the interiors of. the house were largely recreated on a. soundstage, including this very. impractical staircase. Like, imagine. carrying a bed frame up this thing. but. it was deliberately designed this way to. maximize the visual spectacle of the. ghost shots that we would later see on. it. This opening music from composer. Jerry Goldmith might remind you of the. opening music of the horror movie that. he composed before this 1979's Alien. The opening shots of that film are.

actually similar to what we see here. A. dormant haunted house with all of its. occupants sleeping as the camera creeps. through each part of it to give us a. sense of the spatial geography. While we. get the feeling that we are really. seeing this through the invasive. presence that's going to be haunting. this space. Ebuzz goes from the master. bedroom to sniff around the mother Diane. played by Joe Beth Williams at the time. the biggest name of this film and top. build and then into the younger kid's. room. The dog finds another snack by the. bed of Robbie played by Oliver Robbins. and sniffs Caroline Heather Oor. Actresses Dominic Dunn and Heather O.

both suffered tragic early deaths in. this decade leading to many over the. years claiming this movie and its. sequels are cursed. Dominic Dunn was. murdered by her boyfriend John Thomas. Sweeney on November 4th, 1982, months. after the film released. There were some. sad coincidence pointed out in the 2002. E True Hollywood story documentary on. Poltergeist that Dominique Dunn's friend. David Packer was inside the house at the. time of the strangulation and playing. and turned up the volume of Jerry. Goldmith's Poltergeist soundtrack record. to drown out the screaming and most. tragically the killer was released from. prison after only four years. Heather.

Oor would go on to appear in the next. two films of the series, but then she. became ill in 1987 after drinking well. water in Big Bear Lake and was diagnosed. with Crohn's disease. The cortisone. injections that she had to take made her. feel self-conscious about her facial. swelling while she was shooting. poltergeist 3. She collapsed in January. 1988 and was hospitalized and then died. on February 1st, 1988 from congenital. stenosis of the intestine and septic. shock. She was only 12 years old when. she died. I find any serious arguments. about the curse of this franchise to be. in somewhat poor taste when it comes to.

these young women. And no, I do not. think these movies are cursed, but I do. think that the story this first film. tells does speak to the curse of our. society. And whenever I revisit it, I. think both actresses performance are. just so perfect and incredible and bring. a warm light into what could otherwise. be a very dark film. On Carolanne. Goldsmith's score activates, and we push. in on her as she awakens, lured by the. static of the TV downstairs. All the TV. lights in this movie flicker like. lightning through the whole house. As is. later explained in the film, the. resident sits at top a cemetery whose.

headstones were moved but not the. bodies. A disturbance that allowed a. demonic presence to break through this. mortal plane and trap the confused souls. of that cemetery in an ethereal plane. that's linked with the house. These. entities see Caroline as a source of. light that reminds him of the lives they. no longer have. Steve tells his boss, Mr. Teague, that Caroline was the one. member of this family actually born in. the house. So that birth is why these. spirits imprint on her. Caroline. converses with the presence in the TV. What do you look like? >> Five. >> Yes. I don't know.

>> As Tanga later explains, the beast. deceives Carolanne by presenting itself. as a child. >> Says things only a child can understand. To her, it simply is another child. >> I always wondered what questions the. beast was asking Carolanne to get those. answers. Here's what I think it asked. >> How old are you? >> Five. Are you a good girl? >> Yes. >> Do you love your parents? >> Yes.

>> Which parent do you love more? >> I don't know. >> Are your parents good people? >> I don't know. >> On that second I don't know, notice how. Caroline sounds more hesitant and. scared. As if the voice is asking. questions, she's worried she'll get in. trouble for answering. It could speak to. why Tanga later asks Diane and Steve. which parent Caroline is more drawn to. and which one she's more afraid of. And. as to whether they're good people, Steve. is his company's top realer, selling 48%. of the houses in the valley that were. all built at top this sacred land. Carol. presses her hands on the screen and we.

hear the crackle of the static that used. to hover over TV screens like this. It's. her way of hugging a kid that she thinks. is on the other side of the screen. We. cut to this view of the Quest of Verde. Valley with two menacing looking trees. on the hillside. Based on the way the. shots of Steve and his boss, Mr. Teague, are later framed, we may be actually. seeing all this from the point of view. of the additional cemetery up on the. ridge. So despite Goldsmith's sweet. music here, we are really seeing these. souls staring down in judgment at the. subdivision that is stopping their souls. from crossing over. Production shot all. of the exterior footage for this film in. CB Valley, California, about a 20-minute.

drive from the Porter Ranch, Northridge. area where Spielberg was shooting ET. Semi Valley itself was really only. developed as a suburb 20 to 25 years. before this. And these opening shots. paint an overly saccharine picture of. the comforts of suburbia that almost. feels protected by these surrounding. hills. But the truth of America and the. truth that Hooper and Spielberg showed. by their earlier works is that there's. no such thing as a safe community in. this country. No such thing as true. providence blessed from God. And every. homestead was really built on soil that. was soaked in blood in order for us to.

claim it. Much of this movie's opening. minutes are spent on suburban gags. Kids. using RC cars to trip up a dad pedaling. a kid's bike to rush beers back to the. guys watching the football game. He. doesn't even have time to yell at the. kids or explain himself to Dana as beer. sprays everywhere in the house. The game. that the dads are watching isn't a. daytime Sunday game. It was actually the. Monday Night Football game on November. 24th, 1980 between the Los Angeles Rams. and the New Orleans Saints. These Seami. Valley dads would obviously be rooting. for the Rams. Robbie has a Rams helmet. in his bedroom that Carol Anne later. wears. And here they're watching Jim.

Younglood intercept Saints quarterback. Archie Manning for what would eventually. be a 27 to7 win for Los Angeles. Diane. changes Robbiey's bed sheets, Star Wars. sheets, showing C-3PO as an industrial. light and magic production. There are. just so many Star Wars sightings. Robbie. also has a Kenner Yoda hand puppet, a. Tonton figure, Kenner action figures of. Tatooine Luke Skywalker, a Hoth Han. Solo, an FX7 medical droid and R2-D2. He. has a TIE fighter and a Probot turret. On his walls are a folded original Star.

Wars: A New Hope movie poster. Insane, but pretty accurate that a kid would. have folded it like this instead of. rolling it. There's a Ker 1980 Darth. Vader action figure carrying case. because you had to keep your figures in. something. There's a poster for 1979's. Alien, a movie that would have been way. too scary for Robbie if the kid's afraid. of clowns and trees. He also has a. poster of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and a. Darth Vader poster by the closet. And. this badass even has Star Wars character. light switch plate. C3PO by the door. And he has a jacket with an ironon. Chewbacca patch. That's the one that he.

throws over the clown doll. But the. oddest detail that's been a subject of. many conspiracy theories is this. football poster. It says 1988 Super Bowl. 22 Rookie of the Year. Wo, what the. hell? This movie was shot in 1981 and. released in 1982. What's going on here? Well, the wild coincidence about this is. Super Bowl 22 was held on January 31st, 1988, the same day Heather Oor would be. hospitalized, a day before she died. So, online theorists who believe in the. curse point to this as evidence that the. movie somehow predicted the young star's. death 6 years early. But the thing is,

this is not an actual printed poster. that you would have bought anywhere. It's a poster that Robbie drew. In fact, the exact look of that football player. appears to be traced from the cover of. this 1981 kids book by Rob McKay, How to. Draw Funny People. Now, Robbie is only 8. years old, so how could he be a Super. Bowl Rookie of the Year in 1988? Well, he couldn't, and that's the point. He's. an 8-year-old who thinks he's going to. be so good at football at age 14, his. freshman year of high school, that the. NFL is going to draft him and he's going. to be the star of the Super Bowl. I. mean, that's just how some 8-year-olds.

think, and I think it's very sweet. Diane finds Caroline's bird, Tweety, dead in the cage. Oh [ __ ] Tweety, couldn't you have waited for school day? >> A dead pet in the first 10 minutes. always a troublesome omen. It's a trope. that will continue even through this. year's horror hit Obsession. Steve's. neighbor Ben has the same TV remote that. gets the signal crossed so the game. keeps switching over to Mr. Rogers. neighborhood. I love the detail that. both Ben and Steve are smoking cigars on. this Sunday. And in addition to this. gag, this establishes two things really. One, the frequencies in this house are. in general on the fritz and there are.

forces beyond their understanding. controlling these TV signals. and two, all of the houses in this neighborhood. were just built too close together, showing how Steve's company, the Teague. Group, are just cheap and trying to get. as much money as they can out of this. real estate that they built on grave. sites. And when Steve talks to Ben, you. can see how the Freeling House is just. up a bit higher by a few feet than Ben's. house, showing how there's something. still buried under that particular plot. of land, and that the developers didn't. really dig deeper, and explaining why. when they dig the pit for the swimming. pool, bodies just start to float up. Robbie fears this hideous tree in the.

backyard and tries to conquer it by. climbing it. A tree that will later. attack and try to eat him. >> This an old tree. It's been around here. a long time. It was here before my company built the. neighborhood. >> Know your dash. >> In the 2002 E True Hollywood Story. documentary, Steven Spielberg's sister, Sue Spielberg, talked about his. childhood fears of clowns and a. particular tree in their backyard. >> And not only clowns, but trees. Steven. was very much afraid of a tree, a. particular tree that grew in our. backyard and this tree when it would.

storm or there'd be um wind would. scratch on his window and he was just. deathly afraid of this tree. And in. Poltergeist, there's an incredible image. of the tree coming and grabbing the. little boy and it's I mean when I saw. that I just went, "Oh my god." He. captured the fear that he had and really. put it into the film. >> Later when Steve and Mr. Teague tore the. phase 5 area, there's a dead sinister. looking tree there, too. This is just. what trees look like here when you leave. the bodies and you only move the. headstones. I assume Steve was smoking a. King Edward Imperial cigar because it's. that box that Diane and Carolanne buried.

Tweety inside of. The respect young. Carol Anne shows this simple bird and. its burial is an indicator of how she is. a beacon of light that these restless. souls all gravitate toward. But even. this 80s suburb kid has limits to her. grief. >> I'm a goldfish now. >> That night, the storm Robbie saw rapidly. surging in arrives. Robbie reads this. comic book and hey, my time to shine. This is Captain America number 259 from. 1981 where a Cap battles Dakok. Not. exactly a fun read for a kid haunted by. a clown doll with long arms and a tree.

with long branches. Everything is. reaching into this kid trying to. strangle him. Caroline insists that. Diane leave on the closet light. When. the paranormal activity begins, there. will be nothing but light coming out of. this closet. In Steven Diane's room, they watch a clip of Spencer Tracy in. the 1943 film A Guy Named Joe. This is. one of Spielberg's favorite films from. his childhood, and he actually remade it. as a 1989 film, Always. This is a scene. where the pilot, Pete, realizes he's a. ghost. Steve has another open cigar box. where they keep their marijuana. He. fumbles with the rolling paper. Rookie. mistake, bro. He licks the lower rolled.

part of the joint. The part that has the. weed in it rather than the upper part. where the sticky strip is that you use. to seal the joint. Dude's reading too. many of those Reagan books. And then he. just leaves the marijuana all over the. bed that his kid will later jump up on. Meanwhile, Diane reads Man and His. Symbols by Carl Young to suspect that. Carolyn might be a nocturnal. somnambulist, a sleepwalker. Carl Young. was particularly interested in the. occult and the whole idea of. poltergeists, a term that comes from the. German compound noun translating to. noisy ghost or knocking spirits. Diane,

who at this point is pretty baked, raises the paranoid concern that. Caroline might sleepwalk into the pit. that they're planning to dig for the. pool, setting up their later fear the. next night and an even scarier. possibility for the pool that Diane will. have to later face. Steve reassures her. with some [ __ ] from his days on the. diving team and then starts talking. dirty her with his Donald Duck. impression. Robbie gets scared by the. storm and how it seems to activate the. clown doll and the tree outside. So. Steve teaches him to count after seeing. the lightning flash to know by the. thunder sound whether the storm is. approaching or moving away. While Robbie. and Steve count to three the first time,

Robbie's able to count to four the next. time and then five on the last time, we. suddenly cut to lightning clashes right. outside the window behind the tree with. simultaneous thunderclaps, meaning this. evil storm started to move away when the. dad was in the room and then came back. when the kids were alone. So, now we cut. to Robbie and Caroline just sleeping in. this marijuana covered bed with the. parents. I like how Caroline's hand is. just draped right on Diane's chin. The. national anthem broadcast plays again. for the signoff. An odd detail here. The. TV clock says it's 2:37 a.m. That's a. random time and way later than signoff.

broadcasts like this would play, but. considering they shot this in 1981, the. biggest horror movie from the year. before was Stanley Kubrick's The. Shining. So, this is probably a nod to. Room 237 in that movie. The static kicks. in and now we straight up hear whispers. Lights appear on the TV and Caroline. reaches out. But wa, the ghostly claw of. the beast reaches back and floats around. the room before zipping into the wall. above the bed. And remember, because we. saw Steve carrying Robbie back to bed.

and then walk back through the hallway, we know from that scenic geography that. this wall joins with the back of the. closet in the kids' room. According to. Starlo's 1984 special effects volume 4. photo guide book, ILM, supervised by. Richard Edund, created this effect by. testing a number of different ways. first by trying to use a real hand, a. mold from VFX artist Renee Holt, who had. very long, thin fingers that they. stretched further and actually added an. extra joint and then put a flashlight. behind the silicone mold of that to make. it look like it glowed from within. They. didn't fully use that, but that idea. suggested their ultimate solution to.

make the hand look like it was the light. of the TV itself come to life. That they. fully animated frame by frame with. pieces illuminated from behind the. screen with fingers and a wrist that. were able to now move in a liquid. fashion. ILM animator John Bruno. described the TV ectoplasm as requiring. multiple passes through the camera with. each pass photographed at a different. density. So they effectively built up. layers of animated light until it. resembled this translucent smoke. Now. the whole house quakes probably from the. graves of the souls beneath the house. becoming restless and populating the.

ethereal plane now opened up by the. beast punching the hole in the house. It's definitely more than one spirit now. because Caroline drops this iconic line. >> They're here. This disturbance is. paralleled by the next shot of the. construction caterpillar, digging the. pit for the pool, specifically. unearthing Tweety's grave from the. flower bed the day before. This is. literally the same crew that works for. Steve's company, The Teague Group, that. disturbed all of the graves here in this. neighborhood. I don't know why, but the. month of September always feels like a. major transition for me. Like, I haven't. been in high school since high school. But because I spent so many of my.

formative years treating September like. the start of some big new adventure, it's just hard to flip that switch off. And it's not just the residual inertia. of going back to school. A lot of the. patterns I developed before I had the. right context or self-awareness to. appreciate them still linger. Something. my therapist has reminded me of that's. really helpful is that now I can apply. adult context and agency to some of. those feelings. So yeah, it's September. and if I'm feeling geared up for a big. new adventure, why not just lean into. it? Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe. you've been thinking about therapy. yourself and maybe now is the time to.

embark on that adventure. Better Help, the sponsor of today's video, makes. starting therapy easy. You take a short. quiz, then get matched with a licensed. therapist quickly. You can communicate. however you feel comfortable, phone, video, or text. If your therapist isn't. a good fit for you, you can switch at. any time with no additional cost. Over 6. million people to date have gotten help. through BetterHelp, earning a 4.8 out of. five rating on the app store. Click the. link in the description or go to. betterhelp.com/newrostars. to get 10% off your first month of. therapy. Signing up using our link helps. support our channel and lets us keep.

making videos like this and the next one. and all the others. Let's get back to. it. Pun-loving movie critic Jean Shallot. cameos on the kitchen TV in a critic's. corner segment of NBC's The Today Show. Shallot actually gave a negative review. of this movie when it came out. Paul. Gist made me want to pull my face apart. Uh, that's not what he said. That's just. my impression of him. The kids speculate. what caused the earthquake under the. house and as they bicker, Robbie's milk. glass explodes. The crew used a. specially rigged prop class designed. with a fake detachable bottom. Underneath the table, a thin wire was. threaded up through this tiny hole in.

the tabletop and attached directly to. the bottom of the glass. And then a crew. person under the table pulled it. More. background humor in the scene. The pool. diggers in the background are often just. sitting in the grass and smoking. And. Steve ties his tie around the phone. cord, getting it caught in his loop. Caroline listens to the TV people in the. static while Robbie realizes his fork. and spoon are bent and twisted. When. Dana gets cat called by the workers, she. handles it by flipping them off to which. Diane just laughs. But remember, Diane's. only 31 and she would have been super. young when she had her kids. This iconic. scene with the kitchen chairs is part of.

an incredible scenic magic trick that. Hooper and Spielberg stage here. It. begins with the pledge. Diane reminds. her kids to push in the chairs. But. since some paranormal stuff has already. begun happening, this is the last thing. we really pay attention to. So, we go. upstairs and Ebuzz is starting to bark. on that exact spot on the wall where the. entity formed the portal and we're. creeped out by that. And then the scene. eases our attention with this gag of the. worker in the window eating this. family's food. By the way, this actor. was also murdered in 2009. So then we. get to the turn of the trick. The chairs. are all pulled out again and we wonder.

who did this. Was it that worker coming. through the open window? Was it. Carolanne? Actually, where is Caroline? And then Oh Jesus. Oh, don't do that, honey. >> Woo! Fake out jump scare. A creepy. little hand reaches up into frame and it. gets me every time I watch this movie. But this is the perfectly staged shot. that we stay in for the prestige of this. trick. A perfectly executed Texas switch. done in one take with Caroline sitting. on the counter. The camera turns to. follow Diane to the cupboard and then. back. And.

now the execution of this was quite. simple as far as Texas switches go. When. the camera turned, the breakfast nook. was now offcreen so a crew could come in. quickly to remove all the chairs and. then at the same time set on top of the. table one already glued together pyramid. stack of chairs. So the real genius of. this magic trick is the sound mixing in. the fully work. Like there would have. been a lot of shuffling sounds of the. crew, so they had to mix every footstep. The cabinet open, the sounds of Diane. shuffling the cleaning supplies around, and then the cabinet closed, all in.

post-production. And because the room sounded silent. other than the sounds that we heard, the. final reveal just comes off as. completely paranormal. Might Shyamalan. would pay homage to this shot with. another more ambitious version of it IN. THE SIX SENSE. And I love this transition from Diane. and Caroline looking up at the chairs. cross-dissolving into kitchen that looks. exactly the same but in another house.

that Steve is now selling. All of the. houses built by the tea group are. exactly the same. So the transition. makes the wife and child look ghostly. disappearing into an empty kitchen and. reminds us that there is no soul or. personality in these cookie cutter. houses. This scene serves to establish. the Freelings as one of the first. families in Qua Verde's phase 1, showing. how the restless spirits would blame. them in their household for their. current state. Steve also explains how. their construction policies are quite. liberal and there's a neighbor who built. a running aqueduct from the inside to. the outside. I mean, policies like that. are designed to keep communities secure.

and minimize environmental impact. I. mean, no [ __ ] nature's pissed at Qua. Verde. As another evil storm approaches, Diane pulls Steve into the kitchen to. show the furniture path that she chocked. on the floor and makes them watch as the. chair moves by itself. How did they pull. this off? Well, notice how one of the. chairs legs drags exactly along one of. the tile lines, the grout lines that's. slightly thicker and darker than the. others. Well, the crew attached a wire. to this leg of the chair and ran that. wire under the floor through this line. So, they were able to yank the wire to. wobble the chair and then pull the whole. chair via that wire exactly on that.

line. And it's the same line and wire. system that they used to slide Heather. work wearing the Rams helmet. It was. attached to a harness hidden under her. overalls that pulled her along the line. And then they heavily wax the lenolium. to reduce friction. Jobeth Williams is. just so great here as she emotes this. unhinged certainty. >> It's like there's this tickling, you. know, right in here and and it starts to. pull you. >> That tickling feeling are the spirits. trying to connect the life force that. Caroline, Diane, and the chairs they. dine together on all represent. Now, there is a famous abrupt jump cut here. >> and and you're getting pulled along in.

>> Hi, Ben. >> So, reportedly this awkward edit came. from a last minute removal. Earlier in. the scene, remember Diane suggested they. go to Pizza Hut instead of her making. dinner, which would be an odd detail. because we definitely saw her cooking. some sauce earlier on that stove when. the worker leaned in to eat it. I assume. that she let that burn while she was. getting distracted by the chairs. But as. Diane rambles here, the scene was going. to end with Steve just saying, "I hate. Pizza Hut." Reportedly, this line got. back to Pizza Hut and MGM hastily. removed the line to appease the brand. Steve and Diane are attacked by. mosquitoes that don't bother neighbor. Ben and his son at all. Another sign of.

all the nearby nature beginning to turn. on the family. Diane in the next scene. says that these mosquitoes got a pint of. blood, which might be me reading into. things, but that is the kind of phrase. that you would use to suggest culprits. having to pay a price or a penance for. some kind of misdeed. We get this. terrifying countdown as Robbie counts. the distance between the lightning and. the thunder. And each time he counts, the number gets lower until. as the tree branches crash in, notice. the clown doll is right there next to. Caroline. Robbie being devoured by a.

tree while a black tornado rages through. just remains one of the most disturbing. things I think I've ever seen in a. movie. I mean, even after they save the. kid, he's coated by this slimy, muddy. tree stomach acid. No, the beast was not. trying to use the tree to suck Robbie. into another dimension because this ends. with the tree itself sucked into the. cyclone and sent to Oz. I guess this was. actually a cruel diversion to separate. the family from the beast's true target, Caroline. Now, this suction of. everything into the open closet was. accomplished by recreating this set of. the kids' room on a soundstage with a. rotating set mounted on a gimbal that.

could turn 360°. In this case, they. tilted 90° and filled the room with the. sparkling glitter pieces to sell the. illusion. The shots of Caroline hanging. from the headboard and wide used a dummy. to avoid the danger of a young child in. this rotating set. Intercut with poor. Heather Oor screaming with the wind. machine on her. Reportedly, after she. did this take, she kind of broke down in. tears and Steven Spielberg had to hug. her and tell her that he'd never make. her do another take. Caroline falls into. a closet and then two beds pile on top. of the doorway. Diane and Steve dig. through the closet and think for a. moment that Caroline is dead under that.

blanket. But then. ah there's some momentary relief, but. then after searching the house, Diane's. paranoid fear of Caroline drowning in. the pool pit returns. It's fully. irrational. They were just all outside. right next to the pool when Caroline. went missing somewhere inside the house. But you know when a tree starts to eat. your son after a day of furniture flying. around, nothing's really that crazy. anymore. Robbie alerts Diane to the TV. >> I can't see you, Mommy.

>> Where are you? >> As Diane puts her hand to the TV, we. hear whispering as if warning her to. stay away from its prey. Steve goes to. the nearby university's parasychology. department and meets Dr. Martha Leesh, Dr. Marty Casey, and Dr. Ryan Mitchell. He gives the ages of the family. >> Is Diane my wife? She's uh 31. 32, I'm sorry. And my oldest daughter, Dana, she's 16. >> Wait, what? Diane got pregnant with Dana. when Diane was 15. There have been some.

explanations for this over the years. Reportedly, in James Khan's novelization. of this movie, Diane is Steve's second. wife, and Dana is Steve's daughter from. a previous marriage. Some point to the. fact that Steve says that Dana is my. oldest daughter, but he also says my son. for Robbie. I also think this just could. have been a thing in early '8s Spielberg. movies. Like in Raiders of the Lost Arc, the previous year, Indie had a past. romantic history with Marion when he was. a grad student and she was, in her. words, a child. Joe Beth Williams was. really a get for this cast and she was. 31 to 32 at this time. And maybe the.

filmmakers felt it kind of served this. story to have a younger mom for the. moments that she would be in particular. danger, but also looking back at the. film, why include this older teenage. daughter in the story to just sideline. her for much of the movie. Eh, I guess. Dana does get the best line of the. movie. And again, their early '8s were. just filled with stuff like this. A very. sleepd deprived Steve tells Dr. Lesh, "We don't care about the disturbances, the pounding and the flash, the screaming. music.". >> The music always creeps me out. It's. either spirits singing in this other.

realm, or just the spirits [ __ ] with. them by playing the kids' records like. we see in the next scene. Ryan brags. about getting footage of a Matchbox car. moving 7 ft over 7 hours. And I love. Steve's reaction to this. This cursed. room is filled with floating spinning. madness animated by ILM. We see an. incredible Hulk figurine riding a horse. and then a geometry compass flies right. at Dr. Lesh, but then is used as a. needle. For the record, it kind of feels. like the beast and spirits are just. showing off here. As a teapot slides. around the table, Dr. Lesh nervously. explains the difference between. poltergeists, entities connected to an.

individual, usually short-term, and. hauntings associated with the location. and lasting years. Interestingly, this. movie is kind of a story of both. While. this quest of Verde house being built on. a cemetery was part of the disturbance, it wasn't a haunting or any kind of. issue until the beast took advantage of. Caroline's life force and punched a hole. into the physical plane and used it to. snare all of these confused souls. At. that point, it became both a poltergeist. story and a haunting story. The family. demonstrates for the investigators how. they talked to Caroline and it's such a. sweet and tragic moment as they cling to. the only presence they have of their. daughter right now. Ebuzz barks at the.

spot on the ceiling that we soon realize. is the exit portal for this dimension. Old watches and belongings spew out of. it belonging to the souls who were. buried beneath this house. Dr. Lesh. urges Diane to tell Caroline not to go. into the light. That would be the exit. to the afterlife. And we don't want. Caroline going that far. Caroline asks, >> Mommy, there's somebody here. >> So, this is probably the beast who often. takes the form of a child to deceive. Caroline. But in the novelization, there's a mention of a benevolent spirit. known as the waiting woman who protects.

Caroline in this dimension. But then as. they hear Caroline screaming and running. from the beast, this happens. She just moved through me. >> I can smell her. >> The family just completely loses it. Smelling Diane scarf as Dana prays and. nods. Joe Beth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Dominique Dunn. Just playing. this so authentically as belleaguered. religious fanatics is what completely. sells this scene. Like we don't need any.

special effects at all. But then the. beast follows, flashing a red light. through the living room and blowing them. all off their feet. Despite so many. special effects, this movie really. accomplishes so much with just flashing. lights, wind, sound, and incredible. performances by the actors. This movie. also smartly establishes why the family. can't initially just leave the house. They're worried if they leave, they'll. lose Caroline forever, and Steve doesn't. want any of them to be alone. Ryan. explains to the other two investigators. why the static is receiving Caroline's. voice. The absence of a signal on a. channel without a broadcast opens it up. to receive noise from short waves, solar. disturbances, outer space or inner.

space. I mean, part of the charm of this. movie is that due to changing. telecommunication technology, Poltergeist really can't be made the. same way today. No offense, 2015 Sam. Rockwell remake. Before digital signals. and Wi-Fi, there was a certain eerie. magic to TV signals where conspiracy. theories could live, like the Max. Headroom signal hijacking incident. Even. as a '90s kid, I had a kind of TV in my. bedroom with rabbit ears, and I would. see things happen on TV sometimes when I. was in a room by myself, and I would. just have to wait until the next day at. school to ask if anyone else just. happened to see it at that exact moment. Poltergeist still feels relevant today. for the way our kids can still get.

sucked into their screens. Screens of a. more nefarious nature, screens that are. only becoming more and more. sophisticated and unfoldy by the minute. But the reason Poltergeist has a lasting. nostalgic charm, is that families used. to gather around TVs like this. It was a. kind of American hearth. But for the. smaller screens, the modern age, a child. will sink into it and no one will have. any idea what they're experiencing. And. I think that's why '90s kids like me are. more likely to lean back to the8s for. our horror rewatches because we kind of. long for a time when the horror seemed. just more manageable. But trapped in. their time, these characters in 1982.

felt as helpless as we feel now. >> I feel like the prohuman coming out of. the forest primeval and seeing the moon. for the first time and throwing rocks at. it. Yeah, I kind of sense another. Stanley Kubri reference in there to 2001. of Space Odyssey. Robbie wakes up and. proposes that maybe he should die so he. can go save his sister and that they. should tie a rope around him so that. they can pull them both out. This is in. effect what they'll do with Diane to. rescue Caroline. Beatress Strait gives. this incredible monologue here, explaining like we're five to Robbie. ghosts in the afterlife, whispering it. in a way that makes it all feel.

beautiful and magical. How death reveals. the answers to all of life's questions. as we become part of the light. Some. souls get lost along the way to the. afterlife and linger watching their. loved ones grow up and feeling jealous, sometimes angry. One cannot help but see. the Steven Spielberg influence in this. scene. This nighttime scene with. everyone sleeping and whispering and. dropping important truths feels like a. trial run for Spielberg's nighttime. church scene in Saving Private Ryan. There it was Giovani Rabiesi monologuing. about the trick to falling asleep is. trying to stay awake and how he would. try to stay up to see his mom come home. late from work but never could. And then. the times he could stay up, he would.

still pretend to be asleep and he. couldn't understand why he did that. This moment in Poltergeist kind of lives. in that same little authentic, messy, real place that only Ambleland movies. could really do. But here, Beatatric. Strait delivers this with a kind of. sadness of someone who seems like her. own loved one might have gotten lost on. the way to the afterlife. My head cannon. is that that's Dr. Lesh's daughter. I. mean, you don't fall into parasychology. and drink from a flask the way she does, unless you've had your own personal. haunting. I just appreciate how this. movie brings in two experts for the. paranormal. You have Dr. Lesh, the. investigator, and then Zelda. Rubenstein's incredibly iconic Tangina.

Baronss, an even more ethereal war. commander. It takes one woman to comfort. the family and another woman to mobilize. them to battle. Together, they kind of. represent the exorcist old priest and. the young priest of this house's. exorcism. And it ultimately amounts to a. very feminine and non-religious approach. to the crisis. Now, it's hard to hear in. the whisper, but Robbie's theory is. hilarious. >> I got beat up once by three kids. They. took my lunch money. Maybe they got hit. by a truck and they're upstairs right. now. This kid really thinks that his. bullies might have died and turned into. stretch, stinky, and fatso from Casper,

another Amblin production. I love how. this movie lets Ryan and Marty be. imaginative freaks in their own right. We see Ryan sketching a drawing of Diane. crying as her hair turns into this. insane S-shaped staircase. A creative. sketching like this being really the. only way he could properly record the. emotional truth of her experience. Marty. raids the fridge and takes out a whole. freaking steak that I guess he's going. to grill on the stove top in the middle. of the night, not caring about the noise. or the smoke, and then plops that raw. steak directly on the counter surface. I. mean, the beast probably bewitched all. this food just to teach him a lesson and. cooking etiquette. This crawling steak.

is great. It was accomplished by using. the same ingenious technique as the. chairs and Caroline sliding on the. floor. They used the tiles separated by. grout to create a line. And notice the. line the steak moves along is thicker. and darker than the other grout lines. They fastened two wires to the steak and. ran them through this line and then a. special effects operator crouched under. the countertop, moved the wires to make. the steak inchworm across the counter. Now the steak bursts open with rotting. inards. Special effects makeup artist. Craig Rearen created this effect and. said in the E True Hollywood Story. documentary that the script called for.

the whole steak from the beginning to be. cancerous. The. >> script the uh steak became cancerous. That's the actual word that was used. And he said that he made a tumor covered. steak that Toby Hooper approved. But. then when Steven Spielberg dropped by. the prop area and saw the prop, he said. that it needed to start by looking like. a normal steak that then would burst. open because otherwise people wouldn't. register it as a steak to begin with. And at that point, Rearan said that he. would need to run everything past. Spielberg when they were on the set. The. chicken drumstick that was just in. Marty's mouth covered in maggots. Another detail that this year's. obsession would call back with Bear. realizing what was in his sandwich.

Spielberg, fresh off the melting faces. in Raiders of the Lost Arc, grosses us. out here with a similar bit of body. horror, which we can't fully show in. this video because of YouTube, but the. hands on screen pulling apart the. prosthetic face are actually the hands. of Steven Spielberg himself. After a. childhood of scaring his sisters by. pulling wet toilet paper off of his face. like it was a skin, he just kind of had. a lifetime of training of knowing. exactly how to make it look the. gnarliest to slowly and then quickly in. a panic tear apart all the flesh off of. one's face. So, at this point, I think. we can see the beast entity of this. movie as Spielberg himself needlessly. terrorizing these people just for the.

fun of it. Ryan's activity meter goes. haywire and his camera turns on its own. to point up the staircase as a light and. mist manifests at the top. Now, the. S-shaped staircase really pays off as it. draws the eye in this surreal way to the. female spirit that floats down the. stairs toward them into the room. accompanied by lights. When they watch. back the footage, they see distinct. ghosts wearing hats and looking. confused. This is all changed from the. original version of the scene in the. script, which would have shown the evil. beast entity surrounded by smaller good. spirit lights from different historical. eras. There would be a woman from the. 20s, men wearing burlap type coats and.

floppy hats, a girl with a ball, but. then the evil entity would melt into a. ghastly face of a very creepy old man, a. vision of madness and murder, the script. called it. Apparently, the trailer for. this movie had Diane screaming in. reaction to this moment. So, they did. shoot it before replacing it with what. we see here. But the idea was this was. the ultimate evil entity. And in. Poltergeist 2: The Other Side, the. screenwriters brought back the idea by. making this character Reverend Henry. Kaine, who led the 19th century cult who. buried themselves alive in the grave. that would be beneath this house, thinking that the end of the world was. coming. The sequel suggested that's who.

these ghosts were, but the Cain. character doesn't yet exist in the. continuity of this movie alone. Robbie. and Ebuzz head off to Grandma's, and Mr. Teague drops by to check in on Steve. >> Looks like he got some cable problems. here. >> I love how the piano continues to chase. Mr. Teague out the house as the spirits. seem to recognize this [ __ ] as the. biggest culprit. Teague takes Steve up. to the top of the hill overlooking. Questa Verde. We spend several minutes. in the scene looking from their point of. view of this spot that Teague promises. would be the Freelain's new house in. phase 5. And only after Teague offers to. make Steve a partner does the camera. pull back to reveal the obvious truth.

that these two men could see but the. audience couldn't. Graves the sudden. reveal of a huge obvious quantity just. out of frame is kind of a Spielberg. trope and it speaks to the theme of this. movie. The way suburbia ignores and. erases history and how history will. always come roaring back. For several. minutes, we could only see the bright, sunny progress of the development to the. valley below. While we, without. realizing it, we're actually standing. with the camera on these graves, looking. past the fence at Steve and Mr. Teague, such as The Truth of Suburbia. Forget. your troubles, just look over in that.

direction. This vast cemetery with its. evil tree was all a gorgeous matte. painting. That's why the grass to the. right of the frame blows in the wind, but the grass inside of the fence is. deadly still. But it also creates this. creepy effect where everything in that. cemetery just looks dead and frozen in. time. I just think many of the best. shots in film history used Matt. paintings like this. Mr. Teague says. >> it's not ancient tribal burial ground. It's just people. Besides, we've done it before. >> He confirms that a few years earlier in. 1976, they moved another cemetery that.

was down in the Freelines neighborhood. 1976 would have been the bicesentennial. This movie is suggesting this type of. disrespect of history really does go. back to the founding of the country. It. really is the story of America. That's. why this movie opens with the national. anthem. But this is based on something. that happened in real American history. from Denver, Colorado's Cheeseman Park. In 1858, the land now known as Cheeseman. Park was a Catholic cemetery. In 1972, Congress called the site federal land. and then sold it to the city of Denver. with the provision that must always. serve as a cemetery. But throughout the. 1880s, the city of Denver wanted to.

change its status to parkland. And in. 1890, Congress allowed it. So, in 1893, undertaker EP McGovern began moving the. 5,000 graves. But a contractor. mishandled these remains, including. dismembering corpses to stuff them into. smaller child coffins. McGovern was. dismissed, and the project was halted. with many of the graves still there, and. the city had no funds to complete this. task and to complete the park. But in. 1907, the widow and children of the. Cheeseman Estate donated $100,000 for a. Greekstyle pavilion. It still stands. there today, and many of the graves that. were never moved are still there.

Indeed, this is a story of America. Dr. Lesh returns to the house with her. promised backup. Zelda Rubenstein. playing the incredible Tanga Baronss. It's rare when a movie this late into. the runtime has a character join the. story completely unannounced and fully. changes the dynamic this effectively for. the next 19 minutes of the movie. That's. really it. Poltergeist completely. belongs to her. From her opening line. here, >> do you mind hanging back? You're jamming. my frequencies. >> To her iconic closing line, >> this house is clean. And I love how even.

the other characters just stand back in. a kind of formation, allowing her to. strut in with a regal authority offset. by her tiny physical size. Steve likens. Tangina to a munchkin from Oz and calls. this Lush's Notberry Berry Farm. Solution. As a SoCal resident, I always. appreciate a reference to the amusement. park that Walt Disney ripped off to make. Disneyland. Steven is calling Tanga kind. of a hokey roadside attraction and not. even legit enough to be Disneyland. He. tries to answer her with his mind, and. she later proves a kind of ESP by.

hearing their whispers from all the way. upstairs. She was just choosing not to. respond to trick answers. Tangina makes. Diane promise to do everything she asks, even if it's contrary to her beliefs as. a human being and as a Christian. She. gathers them around like children, to. explain everything with a calm, angelic. confidence. >> There is no death. It is only a. transition to a different sphere of. consciousness. She wants them to. empathize with these tragic, confused. souls and want for them the salvation. that awaits them by crossing into the. spectral light. Then she shifts into.

that dire tone to describe the other. entity trapping Carolanne. >> To us, he is the beast. >> Yeah, I love how sometimes movies can. just get your heart pounding with a. declaration of the mission. >> Now, let's go get your daughter. >> Now, what happens next is something I. only discovered on my 10th rewatch here. This whole scene in the upstairs hallway. is a discreet Spielberg wer. It's a full. 3 minutes, never cutting, just letting. the camera roll on these actors. organically acting the hell out of this.

scene through eight different camera. setups. One, a close-up of Ryan. numbering the tennis balls. Going to. two, a wide shot of Steve dropping off. the rope and Tanga small in the back of. the shot. Going to three, Tangina. stepping forward to now loom large in. the foreground and try to sense where. Caroline is and conduct these parents. Going to four, Tanggina reporting. Caroline is restrained and both of the. parents stepping forward, debating over. who's more of the disciplinarian. Going. to five, a close-up on Steve, taking an. aggressive tone with Caroline to try to. get her to break free of the beast. Going to six, the camera pushing in on.

Diane to tell Carolanne to run to the. light and get away from the beast and to. try to get the souls to cross over. Going to seven, a push in on Tanga for. her chilling warning. And then going to. eight, the final shot of the door knob. to the kid's bedroom. I mean, I can't. imagine how hard it must have been for. these actors to play this emotional. intensity in a single 3minute take. As. Spielberg, and I'm confident it was. Spielberg directing the camera and not. Hooper, because like this are. unmistakably Spielberg, constantly. moving the camera into these tight, invasive angles. Like, they must have. rehearsed the [ __ ] out of the scene. Our. hearts break with Steven as he.

repeatedly professes that he hates. raising his voice to his kids and never. ever spanks them. And then again with. Diane who has to urge her daughter to. run into the direction of the light that. she knows would take her daughter to the. afterlife. >> RUN TO THE LIGHT, BABY. Mommy is in the. light. >> Tell what YOU'RE WAITING FOR. >> MOMMY IS WAITING for you in the light. I. hate you for that. >> But Tangina is unshaken by that. I hate. you for this. And gives us a calm. warning that just gives us so much. information all at once. >> It knows what scares you. It has from.

the very beginning. Don't give it any. help. It knows too much already. It. knows too much already. Yes, for Robbie, it knew about his fears of the tree and. the clown it still knows. The eerie blue. light blasting from the closet was, according to Spielberg, the most. complicated lighting effect of the film, which he explained in the making of. featurette that was directed by Frank. Marshall. >> From a lighting standpoint, the most. difficult scene became the sequence in. the famous or infamous closet, the. closet where everything goes into and. comes out of the closet with the. spectral light. There were so many.

lighting effects, strobes and Las Vegas. spots and fish tanks of water to give a. different kind of diffusion to the beams. coming out and four large wind machines. and minutia and smoke. It was just to. coordinate all that for a simple effect. We just didn't want a light, but we. wanted the light to live, to really. breathe, and to exude a kind of a. personality. >> After the tennis ball test works, they. feed the rope through the portal and the. line is held by Steven upstairs and Ryan. down below. Tangina plans to go in, but.

Diane says Caroline will only come to. her. >> You've never talked before. >> Neither have you. >> You're right. You go. >> Always room for a joke. We get this. glorious shot of Steve and Diane kissing. in the spectral light with the wind. sweeping around them. Spielberg had. another version of this sweeping kiss in. the wind in ET. Diane goes in and Steve. gets impatient of not knowing when. they'll come out. Tangina ignores them. and calls on the other souls to go into. the light. Cross over children. All are.

welcome. All welcome. >> Her goal is to weaken the beast by. depleting it of these other lost souls, transferring them over to the afterlife. so Caroline can escape in that chaos. But Steven panics and tries to retract. Diane, but hooks a bigger fish instead. Ah, the beast reveals its face. Re-watching this, one cannot help but. see the parallel to Stephen Spielberg's. Jaws when Brody tosses the chum in the. water and then is suddenly greeted by a.

giant m that he was not expecting. >> Come on down and chum some of this [ __ ]. >> For now, this is just a demonic beast. But in the sequel, when we learn it's. actually the form of Reverend Henry. Cain, it manifests as a tequila worm in. the sequel and gets swallowed by Steven, briefly possessing him, and then gets. puked back out as a giant worm. And then. it mutates into a reptilian ghoul and. becomes a tall black skeleton with an. array of multiple heads from the people. whose souls he has consumed. So, this. hello is really just the beginning. But.

thankfully, with the beast turned back. this way, Ryan and Dr. flesh are able to. yank Diane and Caroline back down, covered in this gooey ectoplasm, looking. very much like some placental fluid. Wiping it off in the bathtub, both Diane. and Caroline wake up. >> Hey, Daddy. >> After all of that, Tanga suddenly. remembers her whole livelihood really is. based on how she buttons Ryan's video. recording. So, she bounces her hair, strikes a pose, and says, >> "This house is clean.". >> As the family packs up the house, Diane. tells Dana that they're going to stay.

the night at the Holiday Inn on I74. I. am. >> you. What? >> Huh? We are on to you, Dana. Man, '8s. teenagers just got laid way more than. millennials in their 30s. Dana asks her. mom about the gray X-Men rogue streak. through her hair that she got from her. brush with death in the afterlife. Here. is where the real brilliance of. Poltergeist story structure kicks in. Like, the movie should be over. How. could anything top what we just. witnessed? But of course, it's not over. because the wrongs that started all of. this have not been writed. The rescue of.

Carolanne was too easy. No price has. been paid other than Ryan's video. recordings. There's really no evidence. of any of this. No admission of. wrongdoing by Quest of Verde. Nothing in. place to stop them from just doing the. same thing to those headstones up at the. top of the ridge. The true sin of. suburbia is to never admit any wrong. Just sweep everything under the rug. Bury it. Move on. Resettle. Forget it. Forget history. >> She didn't seem to remember any of it. >> The one piece of physical evidence of. this haunting is Diane's gray hair. and. we're going to see her this evening.

dying it away, erasing the scar. So, this movie cannot let these characters. get off that easy. So here, Poltergeist. starts a new trend in Hollywood of a. false climax. Not just a final scare. that was pretty well established in. horror before this, but really reframing. the film's climax as just the technical. climax, really the end of the second. act, and hitting us with a surprise. third act in a dramatic climax, what. ultimately becomes the most dazzling and. horrifying 10 minutes that Steven. Spielberg and Toby Hooper have ever. directed. But as we get into it, we see.

the dad, Steven, tripping over Robbiey's. yellow bike. >> Okay, Rob, that thing almost killed me. Now, remember, this was the same bike. that Steven's buddy pedled in the. opening scene on that beer run back to. his house during the game. I think the. bike might have moved itself to try to. trip Steven because, as we will see, this house and the grounds and. everything in it are still haunted. From. the moment Diane turns on the water to. bathe and dye her hair, the reddish. orange light signals to us that the. madness is about to begin. Back in. bedroom, it makes zero sense for the. clown doll to be right there in the. middle of the room, facing Robbiey's bed.

on a chair, directly in front of that. hellmouth closet. But here's the detail. no one ever talks about. Look at the. chair. It's not the wicker chair that. matches the bedroom set that we saw the. clown on earlier. Presumably, that chair. was packed up with the moving truck. This chair is one of the same downstairs. kitchen nook chairs that was enchanted. earlier, moving around on its own. There. would be no reason on moving day for the. family to move one of those chairs. upstairs just to hold up this clown. doll. Meaning the chair must have moved. itself up here in order to keep the. clown doll within Robbie's ey line to.

scare him. So, forget the clown. The. chair tells us that this house is still. haunted. Meanwhile, there's something. very cute and very creepy about Caroline. with the tattooing Luke Kenner figurine. in her mouth, moving the doll's head. back to its body. Why was the head. removed like that, perfectly placed like. that? Yes, the lingering entity must. have done that. But we stay for a long. shot on Diane in the bath, just waiting. for something to happen to her, but. nothing for now. So, when we cut back to. the bedroom and we see that empty chair, our stomachs drop. Robbie looking over.

the bed on one side as the camera. follows over his shoulder and then comes. back to lift the covers on the other. side. I mean, it's impossible not to. cover your eyes here. God. So, this amounts to another. brilliant three-step visual magic trick. Nothing on this side, nothing on this. side, and then go, the prestige. I mean, they even changed the design of the. clown's face to look more sinister just. for this attack as he drags Robbie under. the bed and strangles him. Meanwhile,

Diane, looking younger and more. vulnerable than ever, wearing just a. jersey, gets dragged onto the walls and. the ceiling of the bedroom. So, of. course, this was accomplished using the. rotating set, now going a full 360°. rotation that really wore down poor Joe. Beth Williams, whose bare legs were. getting scratched by the Stuckco. ceiling. But what really sells this. illusion are the details. They. deliberately crowded this bedroom with. things that appear to be loose. Boxes. filled with newspaper, toys on the. ground, framed photos, loose bed sheets, a heart balloon hovering by the wall.

But in truth, all of these things were. firmly anchored in place with hidden. adhesives and wires. Even the balloon. and its string, which is actually just a. stiff wire so that when the room set. rotated, the only thing free to move. around affected by the gravity would be. the actress. And they even had Diane. blow drying her newly dyed hair so that. it would be fluffed up and not respond. as much to the shifting gravity, which. is brilliant. But the whole rotating. room illusion was of course as old as. cinema itself. From Victor Fleming's. silent film When the Clouds Roll In. 1919, Buster Keaton in The Boat in 1921,

Stanley Kubri's 2001 of Space Odyssey in. 1968, even Spielberg doing a version of. it himself with the stuff floating in. the car in 1977's Close Encounters of. the Third Kind. But after Poltergeist, we would see it much more in horror. Like Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm. Street in 1984, David Croninberg's The. Fly in 1986, meaning Spielberg was the. one who saw this stunt and thought. rather than comedy or sci-fi, this kind. of thing can be used to scare and. torture these victims. Robbie tears a. stuffing out of the clown while the. closet door turns into a fleshy. hellmouth, and Diane is kept from the.

room by this new incarnation of the. entity. This roar sound effect would become the. source of the MGM bumper lion roar. Outside, Diane falls into the swimming. pool pit. The fate that she worried. would befall Caroline where human. remains bubble up from the mud. Yes, these were real human remains. Joe Beth. Williams spent four to five days of. shooting these scenes and did not. realize until after they wrapped that. these were actual skeletons. This was. confirmed by the special effects makeup.

artist we talked about earlier, Craig. Reirden, who in 1982 was deposed as part. of a lawsuit by other screenwriters. claiming that their ideas were taken and. used for poltergeist. The suit was. settled out of court, but Reirdan's. testimony was relevant to the origin of. many of the scares in the movie. And as. to the pool skeletons, Rearan testified. under oath that he acquired these real. skeletons from a medical supply company. According to the deposition, he said, "I. acquired a number of actual biological. surgical skeletons is what they're. called. Therefore, hanging in classrooms. and study. These are actual skeletons. from people. I think the bones are.

acquired from India." But at any rate, we got 13 of these and we dressed them. so that they looked not like bleached, clean, bolted together skeletons, but. instead disintegrating cadavers and, you. know, added sculpted rubber and things. to them so they would have a kind of. dramatic learing spooky aspect and not. be dull. What am I trying to say? Clinical type corpses, you know. So. really, what we saw as the rotting parts. on these skeletons was actually just. sculpted rubber that was added. But the. original bones beneath were real bones. But still, this was the process in a lot. of Hollywood films before this. Real.

human skeletons were used in 1931's. Frankenstein, 1959's House on Haunted. Hill, and 1978's Dawn of the Dead. The. neighbors help Diane get out, and she. runs back inside. But now, the. architecture of her upstairs hallway is. just completely different. It's now a. long, straight hallway that goes on and. on, and she runs down it while the. camera performs a dolly zoom, zooming in. or out on a part of the frame while the. dolly moves in the opposite direction, creating the effect of this expanding. space that you can never reach the end. of. But I love Jo Beth Williams. performance of limping in place to. suggest a kind of helplessness that one.

would feel in a dream, followed by a. determined digging in and sprinting to. show this mama bear overcoming these. horrors of this house. Now the whole. closet has become the pulsating fleshy. throat of this beast and a tentacle. slithers up. Diane just screams, "God, help me." It says something that the. first utterance of God, like the first. spoken prayer of this movie, is what. seems to give Diane the strength to. heave both of her kids out of the room. Spielberg does often default to the. power of faith. Raiders of the Lost Arc. was ultimately a testament to God.

rewarding the penitant and the non-Nazis. as coffins and corpses burst through the. house and the front yard. The shot. doesn't really focus on it, but you can. see in the background the S-shaped. staircase just undulating like a fire. hose. Diane and the kids had to get down. that thing. Mr. Teague, who presumably. rode back with Steven to try to talk him. out of leaving, now gets this verbal. lashing. >> You son of a [ __ ] YOU MOVED THE. CEMETERY, BUT YOU LEFT THE BODIES, DIDN'T YOU? YOU ONLY MOVED THE HEADSTON. >> The property still refuses to let the. family drive away easily. Another corpse.

flies out of the garage onto their hood. Dana gets dropped off by her boyfriend. to give us this iconic scream. >> What's happening? >> It's such a good take that it's easy to. miss the really cool detail. A hickey on. Dana's neck. Her siblings are. practically ready to leave her behind at. this point, but Steven stuffs her in the. car and they plow through all the. barriers thrown in their path as this. whole neighborhood explodes around them. Water hydrants, gas lines, leaving only. Mr. Teague behind to watch in disbelief. as the entire house is sucked into the.

void. This incredible effect was. accomplished with a scale model of the. house that was only 4 ft wide placed on. an industrial strength vacuum cleaner on. a horizontal plane. They put 100 wires. attached to various points of the. structure and ran them down through the. house into the vacuum collection sack. beneath it. And then a camera was. mounted above that table pointed. downward filming 300 frames per second. So then the vacuum was switched on, they. pulled the wires and the house was. blasted with pumpaction shotguns. And. then everything got sucked down to the. vacuum and it all went down in 2. seconds, but they got it on the first. take. This is the Ceile B. Deill shot of.

the movie. The true grand finale. An. encore that first time viewers never. thought we would get, but is totally. necessary for the themes of the film. Everyone in this community, including. the greedy developer who started it all, must bear witness to these suburban. sins. As quickly as they are trying to. erase history, history can just as. easily erase them from existence. The. film ends at the Holiday Inn that Diane. mentioned earlier. The pulsating blue. star in the neon sign reminds us of the. blinding bluish light that they were. fighting so hard to stay out of. The. sign beneath reads, "Welcome Dr. Fantasy.

and friends." Dr. Fantasy is the. magician stage name of producer Frank. Marshall, who would do magic shows on. set for the cast and crew at the end of. his productions. In another longer than. usual take, we follow this exhausted. family all the way down the walkway into. the room and then after a pause, we end the movie as we began on a TV. Based on the time of night, I'm guessing. the only thing that would be on right. now would just be static. It's easy to. see Poltergeist as a warning about the. dangers of screens, but a deeper reading. of the film, like the one we just did.

together, shows that none of these. horrors were truly the fault of. television. Television was just the. medium that the evil was able to use to. invade the house and abduct Caroline. But it was also the only way the. freelines could continue to talk to. their daughter. So much so that Diane. never wanted to turn it off. Parents of. missing children do need the media and. social media to try to reunite with. their kids. But the father Steven. shoving the TV outside shows how America. really does fail to learn the lesson of. its misdeeds. It always blames the. media, blames television, blames social. media, and never the underlying causes.

of our ills, which are the universal. deadly sins of greed, ignorance, apathy. That technology only just channels and. amplifies. But, you know, can you blame. an exhausted dad like this for just. saying screen time is over, go to bed. I. love Poltergeist, and I'm so glad I got. to break down as part of our weekend. watch series. Next week, you're going to. see Jessica's video about Scooby-Doo. Comment down below with your thoughts on. this movie. And a special thanks to one. of our NR Underground subscribers, Dante, for supporting us at the. executive producer level. You can get. all of our exclusive bonus content by.

clicking the link in the description. below or going to nr. underground.supcast.com. Big thanks to Studio Tech Brian Kim, New. Rockstar editors Joshua, Steven Herd, and Abby Freel and all of our supporting. editors for their work on this video. Follow me at EA Voss and hit that. subscribe button. Thanks for watching. and I'll see you next time. And. remember, IF YOU MOVE THE HEADSTONES, YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO MOVE THE BODIES. HEAT. HEAT.